Thursday, September 27, 2012

Another beautiful sunny day, sunflowers, a touch of lavender, herbes de Provence, and three new books to read after I finish the new McEwan....

I've been seeing these sunflowers on Fairfield Road just before I pick up Elaine and have been meaning to take a photo...a little past their best but they seem like they are volunteers so had to take a photo.

Yellow was my grandmother Cavallin's favourite colour and she loved flowers. Every dish, piece of furniture, etc had flowers. I always say red as a favourite colour but yellow and blue are very close to my heart.

I love getting deliveries from Amazon....but I also do make a point of patronizing Bolen's and Munro's.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Jim was very pleased to discover a screenplay of Brave New World written in 1971 by Peter Hall (now Sir Peter....founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960) and Denis Cannan. He found it by searching around ABE books, bought it, and it arrived today. He's quite excited about it!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

The neighbourhood was in mutiny mode after Willow's Galley was taken over and they completely lowered the quality. Now, a fellow who had his first job at Willow's Galley in the old days bought the business and Jim, Richard, and I can attest to the quality of the product....even better than the original if that is possible. Wonderful halibut and chips....a must try for locals who were missing it.

Richard in front of one of his favourite childhood haunts.

Story in the Oak Bay News:

Published: March 08, 2012 7:00 AM
Not too many people can say they own the place that gave them their first job. But that’s exactly the case for David Higgins.
Higgins reopened the Willows Galley in Estevan Village late last year, completing a circle nearly 30 years in the making.
It’s the very same restaurant where a 12-year-old
Higgins was once hired by original owner Glen Harper. In keeping with a
tried and true restaurant tradition, he started at the bottom and
worked his way up.
“I started out peeling the potatoes and doing the
dishes and cleaning up afterwards,” said Higgins, now 39. “Then in the
summertime Glen trained me on the grill and everything else. By the time
I was done here, I had pretty well done everything and learned
everything.”
Higgins ended up spending four years at the restaurant, and the experience left an indelible mark.
“Glen and Willows Galley were definitely the one that planted the seed for me to become a chef and go into cooking,” he said.
After learning the ropes as a teenager working at
the Galley, Higgins went on to complete his chef’s apprenticeship at
the Victoria Golf Club. He subsequently worked in a number of kitchens
around the Capital Region, including stints at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel
and Government House. When the opportunity arose to purchase the
Willows, he jumped at the chance.
“I think that’s what everybody works towards,
having their own business or working for themselves, and this one
especially because I worked here when I was 12 and it’s got a lot of
meaning to me,” Higgins said.
“It feels like being back home.”
And that’s how he wants his customers to feel.
There have been two other owners since Harper retired a few years ago –
though he still owns the building – and Higgins wanted to make sure the
menu reflected the restaurant’s roots. He has removed a few of the more
recent additions to the menu and gone back to the staples like fish and
chips and seafood chowder that put the restaurant on the map when it
first opened in 1978.
“I just want it to be Willows Galley, the way it
used to be when Glen had it,” Higgins said. “The feedback has been great
because of that. Basically I just want to keep the tradition going.”
Since the grand reopening last Dec. 10, business
has been great, Higgins said. He attributes that success to the quality
of the food and the restaurant’s neighbourhood atmosphere.
“When I worked here before, (people) always referred to Willows Galley as the Cheers’ kind of atmosphere, where everybody knows your name,” he said. “That’s the way I want to keep it.”

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Just wanted to let folks know that if you are a UVic alumnus, The University Club is offering a free year's membership if you haven't been a member before. Jim had been a member so I joined for us. He gets signing privileges. Patty and Terry are going to join and Jim and Terry are looking forward to getting some billiards in. Elaine put me on it and she is going to join as well. What have you got to lose?

The nitty gritty: Phone the Alumnus office to get your student number then go to the University Centre to the Photo ID booth to pay a one time $15 fee to get your Alumnus card (takes about 5 minutes) then head over to the University Club to join.

We had an excellent meal last night with Patty and Terry at the new restaurant in Cadboro Bay Village and were pleased to see they are doing a roaring trade
because they so deserve it. The locals will be thrilled to have a super
restaurant at this location....finally. Every dish we had was fresh
tasting and well prepared and the service was excellent. We had a very
personable server who suggested the Prawn Cakes as a chef special
appetizer....wonderful choice. We added the Satay with them. For the
main course we had Smoked Duck Curry which came in a sauce with lychee
and grapes (will be a must have for future visits), White Fish in
Crispy Batter (very crispy and fresh tasting), Stir Fried Eggplant
(came with wonderful green beans cooked to perfection), and Chicken
Phad Thai.

Then back to Patty and Terry's for blackberry wine from Cherry Point, coffee, and goodies from Pure Vanilla...black cherry studel and lemon tart. Delicious!

Now I have one more reason to go to Paris a 13th time.
PS The number 13 is lucky and unlucky in France.

"Why visit the Palace of Versailles,
when you can RIDE in it? The interior of a train on Paris’s main
transit system, the RER, has been transformed into a replica of the
Palace of Versailles. The isles of the train are lined with golden
sculptures, and the ceilings feature beautiful, intricate paintings. The
interior, which was funded by the Palace itself, mimics the Hall of
Mirrors, Marie Antoinette’s estate, and the Gallery of Battles. If
you’re in Paris, you’ve got to check this out. "

Thursday, September 20, 2012

I had to laugh at two deer who wandered into our front yard just before my bookclub arrived. One went along the rockery and cleaned up what I would consider weeds and the other pulled out morning glory (a constant nuisance) from my rhodos and nibbled away at it. Now, this is more like it!

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Susan Glickman has published quite a lot of poetry and it certainly shows in this novel...very beautiful language in parts. I read it as I was also re-reading Half Blood Blues for our bookclub coming up. Interesting because it takes place in the 30's in England and the protagonists are Jews very much into the classical music scene. A rather interesting contrast to the Blacks into jazz in France but both facing prejudice and the problems of the time.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Mary and I went to Bronwen's mom's art show today and there is no other term than blown away...wow! The art pieces, the stories, the poems...all wonderfully imaginative, creative, varied, whimsical...amazing and uplifting. Not to be missed.

From Bronwen:

Everyone and his/her grandmother/grandfathershould come to this. Isaw/heard a sneak peek today and I am BLOWN AWAY. Her best work sofar, in my opinion that is ..."ONCE UPON A TIME: 50 YEARS OF CLAY AND STORIES.”New and Retrospective work by Muriel Sibley. Sibley celebrates herlong journey with art and words. Myths and folktales influence andinform her ideas and work. Stories and poems accompany each piece.

The difficult part was what to choose to post as examples here. Muriel's assistant came in while we were there to take photos and there is going to be a book or catalogue of the works and the stories and poems. Looking forward to it!

I feel strongly that the invasion of Kate Middleton's privacy was outrageous and pity the meagre spirited people who chose to participate in this violation by viewing them but I did have to laugh at the irony of this incident and hope Kate and William had a private laugh as well.

The Duchess of Cambridge, somewhat inevitably, was confronted by bare-breasted
tribeswomen at every turn today, as she was “crowned” queen of the South
Seas by Solomon Islanders.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

We went to downtown Victoria yesterday to wander around and have lunch. Ended up at The Flying Otter. Jim had a wonderful paella and I had the crab cakes. What struck us initially driving down into town were the number of empty buildings with For Lease signs. Loads of people downtown taking advantage of the sunshine and businesses full with locals and tourists so glad to see downtown cashing in on the good late weather.

"Cleopatra's Bedroom"....don't think I'd seen this before.

Great tulips at the Dutch Bakery...did they always have a big restaurant serving breakfast and lunches?

Hadn't seen these 3 D murals before....the one below is the Emily Carr one. They were done in 2010 so I guess that makes some sense.

Ok....please tell me why there was a huge line up (this was before noon) and many patrons already eating at Red Fish Blue Fish. Yeah....the food must be good but rather uncomfortable seating, line ups, no beer or wine....

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Well, I guess Donna and Eliot are appreciating our wonderful West Coast weather....

From the Globe and Mail today:

Tropical storm Leslie is howling across Newfoundland and Labrador
with winds as high as 130 km per hour in the provincial capital, causing
property damage, downed trees and power outages.
The Canadian
Hurricane Center, which is tracking the storm, says that Leslie has been
crossing the middle of the island - and it will be three to four hours
before the centre of the storm exits north of Gander. It will then head
out over the ocean racing toward Iceland.

Damage to new housing in Pleasantville, next to Quidi Vidi Lake in east
end St. John's. Interesting to see the new house being built have that wonderful Newfoundland character and colours.

Of course I haven't even been reading The Vancouver Sun much lately except a bit online. The TC is pretty local and provincial. I find it interesting that Romney is moving to the middle and taking some of Obama's ideas.

Friday, September 07, 2012

Bill Clinton is obviously a wonderful orator and I probably will listen to his whole speech which I'm sure is on YouTube but did he really say that much of real substance. I would love to be proven wrong.

I haven't been paying a whole lot of attention to the US election but what has filtered down to me and I actually READ and have some interest in it all is that neither candidate has really provided any concrete details about how to solve the problems facing the country. But, I could be wrong. I'm not reading any of it very closely. So far, and I admit my view is very superficial at the moment, seems like a lot of blather and glittering generalities on both sides.

Of course, I'm more positive to Obama because I do respect intelligence, thoughtfulness, and social conscience. I try to be open minded to religion but I guess I do have to say that I feel anyone espousing the Mormon faith is a bit in the loony tunes category for me.

I never will quite understand the wild, weird, and crazy mix up of the people in the US. That being said, I generally I find Americans engaging and interesting despite their politics. And I certainly wish them well....especially since the well being of the US does affect us in Canada although thankfully not as much as before.